Westminster College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

college in

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania New Wilmington is a borough in northern Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves ...

, United States. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

. The student population includes approximately 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students.

History

Westminster was formed as a result of a meeting on January 21, 1852, between the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and Shenango Presbyteries.

Campus

Westminster is located in

, a town of approximately 2,100 residents located north of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and south of Erie and

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

on a campus.

Academics

Westminster College is accredited by the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education, is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

. In the 2025 '' U.S. News & World Report'' college rankings, Westminster College was ranked 108th (tied) of 211 national liberal arts colleges. In 2009, ''

The Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine primarily covering United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine also publishes an annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serve ...

'' ranked Westminster College "third in social mobility" among 253 liberal arts colleges. In 2010, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' ranked Westminster first in the nation as the "Best College for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math."

Student organizations

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association (SGA) exists primarily for governing and providing entertainment for the student body.

Greek life

The four social fraternities each have their own off campus house which junior and senior class brothers can live in. Each of the five sororities have their own respective hall in a sorority dorm building on campus that sisters can live in if they choose. The fraternities are:

Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Founded in 1845 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, it is the tenth oldest social fraternity in the United Sta ...

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of May 2024, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 83 active chapters, 7 associate chapters, a ...

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

, and

Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont. It has initiated more than 215,000 members and has over 8,900 collegiate members across North A ...

. The sororities are:

Alpha Gamma Delta Alpha Gamma Delta (), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded in 1904 at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It is the youngest m ...

Kappa Delta Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) is an American collegiate social sorority. Established in 1897, it was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia. Kappa Delta is one ...

Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same ...

Sigma Kappa Sigma Kappa (, also known as SK or Sig Kap) is a sorority founded on November 9, 1874 at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The sorority has initiated 226,000 members, has 119 collegiate chapters, and has over 98 alumnae chapters. It is offic ...

, and

Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its international office is located in Carmel, Indiana. It ...

Publications

Westminster has one alumni publication and three student publications. The alumni publication is ''Westminster College Magazine'', a quarterly magazine detailing on-campus and alumni activities. Student publications include ''

The Holcad ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', a weekly

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

; ''Argo'', the university's student-run

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of Annual publication, a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually ...

; and ''Scrawl'', an annual literary magazine.

Radio and television stations

Westminster's radio station, Titan Radio (Digital 88.9/ WWNW-FM) serves Lawrence County. The station streams online and features a

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

format. The station is programmed and managed by students as a college and community service. Programming includes live local sports for

Wilmington Area High School Wilmington Area High School is a public school in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, that teaches grades 9 through 12. It is part of the Wilmington Area School District. Enrollment usually fluctuates between 450 and 500 students every year. The masc ...

and various

Westminster Titans Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population includes approximately 1,300 undergraduate and gr ...

teams. Each year from 2009 through 2013, the station received recognition from the ''

Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981, and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

'', ranking it among the Top 20 College Radio Stations in the U.S. five years in a row. Titan Radio is a broadcast member of the Pennsylvania

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters (PAB). Westminster's television station is the Westminster Cable Network (WCN). It provides programming to

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

subscribers in New Castle & Lawrence County. WCN is available on Armstrong Cable in New Wilmington on channel 72. Armstrong Cable also carries WCN in Lawrence and Mercer counties on channel 204. WCN creates and televises local programming including live high school football games, live Westminster College football games and Westminster Christmas Vespers. Other live programming includes the Lawrence County Band Festival and the New Castle Light Up Night parade. WCN produces a news magazine show, WCN 24/7 (formerly known as The County Line and Inside Lawrence County) and a weekly sports program called Coaches Corner focused on football in the fall and men's and women's basketball in the spring.

''The Holcad''

''The Holcad'' is Westminster College's official

. ''The Holcad'' was started in 1884, 32 years after the establishment of the college. It has been published every year since without interruption. It is published every Friday during the academic year except the Fridays immediately before or after breaks and during finals. It is printed by West Penn Printing in

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Shenango River at the mouth of Neshannock Creek, it is northwest of Pittsburgh near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, approximately so ...

under the advisement of The Herald of

Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwe ...

. Formerly of the tabloid format, it has been printed in broadsheet format since 2004. ''The Holcad'' generally includes the following sections: Campus News, Opinion, Sports, Arts & Entertainment, and Features.

Athletics

150px, Westminster athletics monogram The Westminster Titans compete in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

athletics. Before moving to the NCAA, Westminster competed in the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) for many years. For a brief period, Westminster was a member of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its eleven member ...

(GLIAC). The Titans currently are a member of the

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Penn ...

. The first official football game by the Westminster Titans was in December 1891; they lost to Geneva, 42–0. The next year was the first official season; Westminster played four games that year and went 3–1. The Titans have won the NAIA Division II Football National Championship in 1970, 1976, 1977, 1988, 1989, and 1994, all while competing in NAIA Division II, with 11 undefeated seasons. Five former Titans football players have been enshrined in the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

: Harold Davis, Joe Fusco, Larry Pugh, Harold Burry and Joe Micchia. Hall of Fame head coach Tuss McLaughry was not an alumnus but did coach the Titans for four years. The current head football coach of the Titans is Scott Benzel, who became head coach in 2014. Westminster men's basketball team lost in the national NAIA title game twice (1960 and 1962) under coach Charles "Buzz" Ridl. Ridl was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame (1969), the Western Pennsylvania Coaches Hall of Fame (1980), and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (1992).

Notable alumni

* Eric Burns – author, media critic, broadcast journalist * David S. Cercone – U.S. federal judge * Amy Marie Charles – professor of English literature at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro * Thomas C. Cochran – congressman, R-PA, 70th–74th Congresses (1927–1935) *

Thomas DiLorenzo Thomas James DiLorenzo (; born August 8, 1954) is an American author and former university economics professor who is the President of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He has written books denouncing President Abraham Lincoln and is well known a ...

–

Austrian School The Austrian school is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivat ...

economist and author, Professor at Loyola University in Baltimore * JD Eicher – singer, songwriter, and producer * Jennifer Elvgren – writer * William N. Johnston – president of

Wesley College (Delaware) Wesley College was a private liberal arts college in Dover, Delaware. It was acquired by Delaware State University (DSU) in 2021 and is now the DSU Downtown campus. History The institution was founded in 1873 as Wilmington Conference Academy, ...

2002–2015 * Joe Jordano – college baseball coach at

* Tim Kaiser – producer of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' and ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a Gay men, gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra ...

'' and ''

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized as ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitn ...

'' * James Kennedy – Congressman, R-OH (1903–1911) * Gerald LaValle – Pennsylvania State Senator (1971 M.Ed.) *

Mark Longietti Mark Alfred Longietti (born January 16, 1964) is an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat, he is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 7th District from 2007 to 2022. Early life and education Long ...

– Pennsylvania State Representative (2006–present) *

Amber Mariano Amber Mariano (née Brkich; born August 11, 1978) is an American television personality and winner of '' Survivor: All-Stars'' with its $1,000,000 prize, after appearing as a contestant on one of its predecessors, '' Survivor: The Australian Out ...

née Brkich – reality television personality (winner of '' Survivor: All-Stars''), married to

Rob Mariano Robert Carlo Mariano (born December 25, 1975), known by the nickname Boston Rob, is an American television personality, known for appearing in the CBS reality show ''Survivor''. He placed tenth in the show's fourth season '' Survivor: Marquesa ...

Andrew McKelvey Andrew McKelvey (October 13, 1934 – November 27, 2008) was an American business mogul and chairman and chief executive of Monster Worldwide. He was a billionaire and a philanthropist through the McKelvey Foundation. Personal life McKe ...

– chairman and CEO of

Monster.com Monster.com is a global employment website headquartered in Weston, Massachusetts. Along with its sister site, CareerBuilder, it is majority owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management and is minority owned by Randstad NV. History In ...

(December 1996 – October 2006) * Joe Micchia – 2013

inductee * Daniel Migliore – theologian and author; professor emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary * Samuel Henry Miller – congressman, R-PA, 47th, 48th, and 64th Congresses (1881–1885, 1915–1917) * Gladys Milligan – painter * David W. Orr – chair and professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College in Ohio and influential figure in educational reform"Orr, David." American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present. Amenia: Grey House Publishing, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 24 September 2012 * Deborah Platt Majoras – chairman of the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

(August 2004 – 2008) *

Greg Nicotero Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1963) is an American Prosthetic makeup, special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film ''Day of the Dead (1985 fi ...

- special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director * M. Richard Rose (1955–2021) – former President of

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...

and the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

Jerry Schmitt Jerry Schmitt (born September 16, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Duquesne University, a position he had held since the 2005 season. Schmitt served as the head coach at Westminster College ...

– football head coach at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

, former player and coach at Westminster * R. C. Sproul – theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries

Notable faculty

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...

– (former) film maker and writer * James Ashbrook Perkins - professor emeritus

References

External links

*
Athletics website
{{coord, 41, 7, 4, N, 80, 19, 46, W, type:edu_scale:2000, display=title Universities and colleges established in 1852 Universities and colleges in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania 1852 establishments in Pennsylvania Liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania